Indigenous Communities (Commercial Exploitation of Traditional Knowledge) (Hansard, 19 April 2004)

§ Mr. Watson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the patents of medicinal plants in the last five years she estimates were based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous people. [165034]

§ Ms Hewitt
No patents covering the UK have been granted in the past five years for whole plants with medicinal properties. There are 24 granted patents relating to medicinal compounds extracted from plants. It is not possible to determine clearly how many of these are based on the traditional knowledge of indigenous people. However, it would appear that about 50 per cent. of these patents relate to extracts of plants with a recognised traditional medicinal use.

§ Mr. Watson
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if her Department will take action to prohibit pharmaceutical companies from using traditional knowledge of indigenous communities without receiving prior informed consent before exploiting plants or crops for commercial gain. [165179]

§ Ms Hewitt
The UK Government have ratified the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) which deals among other issues with traditional knowledge and prior informed consent. The CBD also recognises the sovereign rights of states over their genetic resources and that access to them is subject to national legislation. It also requires that access to genetic resources should be subject to the prior informed consent of the providing country and to mutually agreed terms, including the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.
At the recent seventh Conference of Parties (COP7) in Kuala Lumpur, the UK Government helped to negotiate a mandate for an international benefit-sharing regime. This mandate covers traditional knowledge and recognises the need for both facilitating access to genetic resources and the subsequent sharing of benefits. The UK also takes an active part in discussions in the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the intellectual property aspects of these issues.